Wil Andruschak

College volleyball offers action-packed entertainment at an affordable price

The Flames may be the hottest ticket in town when it comes to spectator sports, but for most people, the price tag is too high.

Thankfully, Calgary abounds with relatively inexpensive but exceptionally entertaining winter sports ranging from roller derby to bobsledding that are guaranteed to get our bums off the couch and within spitting distance of the action.

“I would like to go to the Flames games, but quite frankly they’re too expensive,” says Dave Needham, who regularly attends Calgary Roughnecks lacrosse games with his wife and two kids. “I like lacrosse because it is as fast as hockey — actually faster because there’s no long delays between whistles — and it’s as rough as hockey,” Needham says. “And they have the music playing through the entire game. It gets you going.”

The former lacrosse player also likes the ticket price for the Roughnecks. Needham says his family purchases tickets, which are usually upper bowl seats at the ends of the Saddledome, from Calgary Co-op for about $20 a ticket. As lacrosse becomes more popular, though, he’s considering purchasing season tickets and securing lower-bowl seats — he prefers to sit closer to the action — for each of the Roughnecks’ eight home games in the National Lacrosse League.

Game-by-game ticket prices for the 2009 season that begins in January weren’t available at deadline, but season tickets range from about $11 to $51 a game.

Another local sport offering a big bang for the buck, literally, is the Calgary Roller Derby Association (CRDA). With one game per month (except for December and one month in the summer), anywhere from 500 to 800 fans spend $10 to $15 each to watch some of the toughest action on wheels. Games are played at the Legacy Sports Centre on the Currie Barracks or in the Big 4 building on the Stampede Grounds.

Crimson Shivers, media contact for the CRDA and a jammer (scorer) for the Hellion Rebellion team, says spectators range from families with children, to the urban-egdy crowd, to average sport fans of all description.

If hockey is the only sport that will satisfy, the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League scratch the itch at a reasonable price.

Mike Kennelly, a longtime Hitmen fan, says the team not only offers inexpensive tickets, but a unique atmosphere and an opportunity to see athletes who are highly visible in the community. “For myself, price does factor,” he says. “The professional game is far out of reach to be able to attend on a regular basis.

“The biggest thing I enjoy about the Hitmen games is that it’s very much a family atmosphere. Unlike the pro league where you get more of a corporate feel... the Hitmen games are more relaxed and interactive.”

Plus, Kennelly says, the team has a ticket exchange program providing some flexibility if life and hockey schedules don’t mesh.

“I recommend going to the games for many reasons,” he adds. “Atmosphere, good value and you can see a good product for a reasonable price.”

Season tickets start at $9.45 per game for adults and $6.55 for kids over the course of 36 home games.

Staying indoors, university and college sports provide great options for the budget-conscious spectator. Throughout the winter, student athletes compete in everything from volleyball, basketball, hockey, swimming and wrestling, with tickets only $5 to $12 or less.

By way of comparison, the average ticket for a Flames game is $55.81 US while a premium ticket averages $125.60 US, according to figures from Team Market Report (TMR), an organization that monitors ticket prices for North America’s major professional sports. The same report states the average National Hockey League ticket costs $49.66 US, while the average price of an NHL premium ticket is $113.44 US. The TMR also calculates the Fan Cost Index (FCI), which is the cost of four average game tickets, two beers, four pops, four hot dogs, one parking spot, two programs and two ball caps at each NHL rink. Calgary’s FCI in October 2008 was $312.44 compared to the league average of $288.23, but far less than Toronto’s $411.30.

OUTDOOR SPORTS

Not all local spectator sports are confined to the indoors. Olympic sports, such as bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, are also easily viewed by Calgarians. Best of all, these events are typically free.

Competitions take place throughout the winter, featuring future Olympians, athletes on the cusp of full national team status and current Olympic heroes. It’s the drive to succeed that, in part, makes these events a pleasure to watch, says Chris Dornan, manager of communications for the Canadian bobsleigh, skeleton and luge teams. Competitions in Calgary include the upcoming Intercontinental Cup for bobsleigh and skeleton from November 30 to December 2.

Dornan says the difference between the competitors in these races and those on the full world-cup circuits in their respective sports are minimal. “You’re talking fractions of a second,” he says.

Unlike professional sports, the athletes competing in these events not only train full-time, but also hold down full- and part-time jobs in order to fund their drive to succeed.

“There’s no event in the world that has the power of the Olympics to inspire communities,” he says. “You can come down here and meet and interact with your Olympic heroes. That’s where it starts.”

And standing next to an ice track where a 120-kilogram bobsleigh races by at 120 kilometres per hour paints a true picture to the meaning of precision. A driver’s hands move mere centimetres in hopes of keeping the shiny-side down (runners on the ice) despite the hairpin turns and G-forces hitting the body.

With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Calgary spectators could benefit as much from the new facilities as athletes in the training programs.

Dornan says the addition of the B.C. sliding track simply means there’ll be more athletes in the sliding sports, thus increasing national competition and the quality of athletes Calgarians can cheer for at Canada Olympic Park.

A few kilometres west on the highway, sports fans can catch national and international cross-country skiing and biathlon action at the Canmore Nordic centre. The 2009 Junior and Youth World Biathlon Championship races take place at the Nordic Centre from January 28 to February 3. Additionally, the Nordic Centre hosts numerous cross-country skiing races from December through March.

Also in the Olympic vein, but moving back indoors, the Calgary Oval houses great, inexpensive spectator sports. From January 9 to 11 and February 6 to 8, Canadian long-track speedskaters just below the World Cup level get to show their stuff. “Watching the athletes glide on the ice with such grace is quite amazing, it seems so easy, yet this is one of the sports that requires the most technique,” says Mylene Croteau, manager of communications for Speed Skating Canada. “One little mistake and they slide off….

“We have some of the best athletes in the world in both short track and long track, so they offer a wonderful show definitely worth [seeing].”

Best of all, the price is right.